6 THE ORCHID REVIEW. [ JANUARY, 1903. 
EPIDENDRUM x KEWENSE. 
A curious hybrid Epidendrum is again flowering at Kew whose history it 
may be interesting to record. For some time I have had a suspicion that 
one or two doubtful Epidendrums of the Schomburgkii group may be 
natural hybrids, but no opportunity of crossing the suspected parent 
species has yet presented itself. Epidendrums have the character of 
being easily raised from seed, and when the bright yellow E. xanthinum 
and the deep purple E. evectum were in flower together they were 
intercrossed. The experiment was made chiefly from a feeling of curiosity 
as to what would result, for the two species are not known to grow 
together. On April 24th, 1899, the cross was effected, both ways, 
xanthinum ¢@ xX evectum, and evectum @ X xanthinum. The latter 
cross failed, and exactly a fortnight later was repeated, this time success- 
fully. The result was two fine capsules, the first of which showed signs 
of bursting about the end of July, and the second a week later, when they 
were tied up in paper, to prevent losing the seeds. Both capsules 
contained abundance of good seeds, and some of the first cross were sown 
on August I9th, and of the second two days later, different receptacles 
being used, and care being taken to prevent any intermixture. The 
seedlings quickly began to germinate, and as soon as ready a few plants of 
each kind were pricked off, after which they progressed steadily, until in 
the spring of 1902 two plants of the second cross flowered, one of them 
when barely over eighteen months old. In the December following a third 
of these is in flower, also one of the first-named crosses (xanthinum 2), 
which has progressed rather more slowly. Others are in bud, and 
altogether there are eight spikes showing on six plants. In general habit 
the two parents are pretty similar, with differences in stature, and in the 
size and shape of the flowers, but especially in colour, one being clear 
bright yellow, the other very deep purple. These colours are combined in 
@ curious way in the hybrid, four plants of which have now flowered, all 
showing different shades of buff and salmon colour. On close examination 
this is seen to be due to an irregular marbling of light reddish purple over 
a yellow ground, as if the two colours were only partially mixed, or were 
trying to separate themselves again. The seedling from xanthinum is 
more yellow than the three from the reverse cross, but the yellow is of a 
light buff shade, very different from that of the parent. 
A few flowers have now been self-fertilised, and if the hybrid proves 
fertile the results should be specially interesting, for Mendel’s theory 
assumes that the gemmules of hybrids remain pure, and therefore self- 
fertilised seedlings ought to revert to the original in certain characters. In 
this particular case the most striking difference between the parents lies in 
